A satellite or digital cable distribution system may provide television programs to subscribers of the distribution system. Typically, satellite and digital cable distribution systems include a set-top box that receives and decrypts the television signal such that a television program may be viewed by the user. In many satellite distribution systems, the television signal may be broadcast by a satellite, received by a satellite dish antenna and decoded by the set-top box. In digital cable systems, the television signal is typically transmitted to the user through a cable connected directly to the set-top box.
Generally, set-top boxes of satellite systems include an operational program that provides a user interface to the user of the set-top box as well as manages and coordinates the activities and sharing of the resources of the set-top box. The operational program of the set-top box is similar to operational programs of other typical computing devices, such as personal computers or laptops. As part of the operation program, a start-up sequence of instructions, or build program, is typically included that is executed upon start-up of the set-top box. The build program typically opens communications with the various components of the set-top box, as well as provides the software structure on which the operational software of the set-top box may execute.
The contents of any one build program for a set-top box may depend on the hardware components associated with the set-top box and the operating platform of the box. For example, some set-top boxes of the system may include 32 megabytes of memory, while other set-top boxes may include 16 megabytes of memory. In addition, some set-top boxes may include hardware components not present in other set-top boxes, such as a digital video recorder (DVR) incorporated into the box or hardware providing the functionality to receive and provide high-definition television and video. Further, some set-top boxes may include similar hardware, but may run different operating programs from similarly structured set-top boxes. Thus, for a satellite system that supports several different types of set-top boxes, several build programs may be designed to support each type of box such that each set-top box can properly receive and decode the transmitted television signal.